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Friday, March 9, 2012

bonjour!

I don't feel like I've been anywhere. That didn't used to bother me much, but I think I'm growing out of that phase.

When I was in college, I had a roommate for one year that was an exchange student from France. Isabelle was so much fun! What I liked about her was her sense of adventure. She just showed up with hardly anything more than the clothes on her back, and she made friends easily and soon had a place to live (my apartment) and the bare necessities.

I loved to listen to her speak. Even though I didn't understand a lick of French (still don't, really). Such a pretty langue. Next to it, English to me sounds flat and boring. She could be talking about the weather or cleaning the bathroom, and yet be so emotive. Even when she spoke English with her French accent, English sounded so much better.

With Isabelle at a rodeo. I have no idea where she got that hat.

She was only here for a year and wanted to take full advantage. She wanted to do "Amareekan theengz!" We'd go bowling, we'd eat nachos. And it wasn't just with me. I was an overly scheduled engineering student with a part-time job. She always had something fun going on with somebody.

And the boys she left in her wake, oh, those poor heartbroken boys...

Magnum and I have been watching more foreign movies lately, and I find that the more I watch, the less I am interested in Hollywood movies. I'm sure there are some really bad foreign films, but we've come across a few really good ones, and they're giving me the travel bug. I want to go to Europe - France, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Greece, ...

Magnum likes to travel. He likes Europe too. When he was in the army, he was stationed in Italy and got to play around there a while. My "worldly" travels consist of a Mexican border town and the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. *SIGH*

Maybe we should formulate a plan to go to France. I have no idea what has become of Isabelle. I like to think that she is happy. She was studying to be a teacher, an English teacher. What a hoot it would be to find her after all these years.

Nice story! 'Chouette'!Dreaming about traveling is always so much fun... I'm on the other side of the ocean though... and how the grass always seems to be greener on the other side (of course). ;-) I'll keep dreaming about the US, Canada, etc. Although I have to say that Europe is a lot of fun too. Maybe you indeed have to give it a try. Take your bags and visit France, maintenait ou plus tard. Go find and visit that friend or just go for the cheese and wine or go watch... 'Le tour de France'. ;-)

Oh, are you in Europe?! Yes, there's certainly some grass-is-greener syndrome going on. But it is fun to dream about, and I do think that it will happen! I would love to be able to go and stay a while - maybe through some sort of work - rather than just be an annoying American tourist. But with plenty of time for wine, cheese, and bicycles! Absolument!

I had a French pen-pal named, Sylvie. We talked on the phone once, and she did sound quite alluring. But in fairness, any foreign language (as well as any foreign dialect of English) sounds good to me, when spoken by a woman! This is what I most enjoy about having a shortwave radio. As for foreign films, I've seen so many that are among the best ever made. One advantage--foreign films don't rely as much on special effects, so they tend to have better plot structure and character development. My favorite foreign film of all is "Open Your Eyes" (Abre Los Ojos), a 1997 film from Spain. I hear they're making (or have just made) an American version of it--to hell with that! The original cannot be improved upon--it is fantastic!

I've seen "Abre Los Ojos" and really liked it. The American version is "Vanilla Sky" and Penelope Cruz has the same role. I agree about foreign films relying less on the special effects, and for that matter, actors that can't act, but just look good. I'm impressed by their attention to the little details and exceptional acting and directing.

How fun if you could find her and actually see her in France after all this time. Did you try facebook? Or google? You and your husband would have a great time traveling together. I hope you do begin a new phase of adventures and travel to other countries.

I have almost the opposite experience. I grew up EVERYWHERE. My family moved to a new place every three school years while I was growing up. In 4th grade I moved to Greece and in 7th grade I moved to Germany. During those years we visited every possible place we could squeeze in. When I got married, I didn't want to move anywhere. We built a house in this little town, and we are still here. ugh. Now I'm back to wanting to move or travel again. It's like you said earlier - the grass is always greener. Italy is high on my list as a place to visit or even live! I'd strongly recommend it. :)

I can feel your desire to travel to other, more exotic places. I am lucky enough (blessed) to have the opportunity to travel to a few placed outside of my state and, despite my grumbling at the time, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of is. We lived in Germany for several years and traveled to some of the adjacent countries (France) and I've had a chance recently to go back for business. Definitely on my bucket list to do more. I hope that, once the kids are older, you and Magnum are able to make the trek over there. Definitely worth it to see some of the "old country".

Why do some parents let their kids "just go." And others, hang on to them for dear life... my husband, not me. :) (Even though Isabelle was probably at least 18, someone had to pay for it.)

If all goes well, I'm headed to Puerto Rico this year (no passport required). Then, I'm going to "get" a passport and begin turning some dreams to reality.

By the way, you seem to be adventuresome with your family by way of camping, hiking... physical things. It counts. My family likes air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, but I'm working on them!